"'When she wakes up', what the hell are you talking about? I swear if you did anything to her," I pick Seth up by the arm and slam him into the crater I made. He hangs his head back, smiling satisfactorily as he begins to lose consciousness. I shake him awake brusquely, I refuse to give him the peace of sleep. "Answer me you prick."
"My friend is going to reset Mia's memories with her powers," he mutters as he tries to laugh.
"Why would you do that?" my grip on his arm tightens. "Why?"
"To hurt you who obviously cares for her and so that I have her back in my arms." I throw him on the ground, unable to hold back what I really want to say. He bounces a bit and then lays there limp, mumbling, "With her new memories she'll think I've come to save her and that you took her. Seeing me so hurt, she'll hate you." Gnashing my teeth and clenching my fists, I step forward angrily.
"I'm not going to let her suffer in your arms again. She's…she's carried all this pain within her for all these months at the expense of her happiness. I called her stupid and naïve when she handled her pain better than I did! And now you're going to hurt her again-I will beat you until you beg me to kill you." As I raise my hand and the rings come off my arm, a trapdoor to my right opens up and the girl named Xevia steps out, tugging Mia along behind her. Xevia gasps when she sees Seth and rushes to his aid, dropping the pallid Mia to the floor.
"Don?" Mia is barely audible. Her head is down as if she's too tired to support it, her emerald eyes no longer have a spark in them, and I can barely see the scratches and bruises she got from Seth's fight. The boy of Darkness gets to his feet using Xevia for support. "Seth…" mutters Mia feebly.
"Mia, I'm so relieved that you're okay," says Seth, disregarding Xevia and wobbling towards a lethargic Mia. "Don kidnapped you and had you locked down there, he almost killed me." Despite the blood running down his head and lips and his TMJ, he manages to get Mia to her feet.
"That's a lie, Mia it's-" he holds her in his arms, having me choke on the rest of my sentence. Something in my gut is constricting me, keeping me paralyzed. Why is my stomach lodged in my throat? "I'm sorry I took so long, you'll never leave my side ever again. I'll protect you with everything I've got," lies Seth reassuringly, hugging her tighter. He pulls back a little and Mia doesn't say a word. "I'm not letting you go," he adds and he pulls her in for a kiss as she stands there like a zombie. I open my mouth to protest but my mouth runs dry. Seeing Mia in Seth's arms makes me nauseous, I don't want her there.
"I've waited so long…for you to hold...me like this," Mia's feeble voice comes out. "I've been…waiting since…Moonlight Town was taken away...from us. I want nothing more than to go home with you."
"I'll bring you home, I promise," he falsely assures her. Damn it, do something already but what can I do? I've been given immortality, these power rings, and inhuman strength and speed yet I can't save the girl who's more important to me than anything. He leans in to kiss her again but she doesn't move. "I was going to let myself fall into your arms Seth," continues Mia, turning to me. "But Don stopped me from running off with you."
"That's ridiculous, Don never lived on the island," snorts Seth.
"He was there and he saved me. You were going to force me to believe that all…all the pain I suffered wasn't real. I couldn't let you do that to me."
I'm knocked into the wall suddenly, too weak to get back up and fight him. "You're a real idiot aren't you? I can't believe you, I really can't-well you're weak right now so there's no way you're fighting back." Slumping against the wall for support, I raise my hands to block whatever's coming. A huge ball of violet Darkness amasses in his palm and he throws it at me without a care for my wellbeing. Now that's the Seth I know. I close eyes and anticipate the pain but it doesn't come. When I open my eyes, I can utter only one word, "Don?"
"Hey," he coolly greets as he gives Seth his back. He must have blocked Seth's attack. "I'm glad to see you're okay." Over Don's shoulder, I see Seth swing his hand again and another huge sphere crashes into Don. When the black smoke clears, Don has his hands against the wall, leaning over me. "I swore that if he hurt you I was going to beat him senseless, but-" he jolts in response to another blast "-I won't attack unless you're okay with it."
"Don't get yourself hurt because of me!" My strength is making a slow return and I can hear it in my voice. More spheres hit Don and he jolts again and again-I wince, petrified as I'm powerless to help him. He looks at me and smirks as another sphere lands in his back. "I'm immortal remember? This is nothing to me," reassures Don, reading my pained expression while taking another blast. If only I could stand and fight then Don wouldn't have to suffer like this, I guess there's no choice.
"Don, please don't kill him." He grins, turns around, and takes another sphere head on. I see him lunging at Seth, knocking him around with his rings. I don't know how Don did it, but he broke through the dream and stopped me from doing something stupid. The moment I grabbed Don's hand during the storm I woke up in the cell, if it wasn't for him I would have my pleasant, but false memories of Seth. The ruckus dies down and across from me is Seth, totally unconscious with Don standing over him. Xevia runs to Seth, frantically shouting his name and shaking him. Don turns to me and brings me to my feet.
"Do you remember how you got in here?" when I nod he continues, "Good. If you can walk, find the exit and call me. I just have to make sure of something." I try running but I nearly trip and lean against the wall to stop myself from falling. As I hurry along the wall, I can feel my legs turning into feeble branches. An arched opening to the blue sky blows a breeze at me, causing me to fall on my throbbing knees. This must be the way out, Don and I could slide down and land on the ledge out there. "Don, down here." He probably doesn't hear me with my voice shaky like this. I force myself to stand up and I shout his name at the top of my lungs. My heart ferociously pounds, I feel as though it's going to fall from my chest the longer I look at how far the ledge is. I have to calm down or else I'll lose my balance and fall, stop looking down, stop it. Too late.
I drop over the edge just as I hear Don call my name. I shut my eyes and scream, unable to grab the ledge in time. My stomach flips around and I'm beginning to lose consciousness. When Korbin almost killed me almost ten years ago, I was falling for a little while and I cried and sobbed without end. So now that I'm falling and I'm going to die, it's okay for me to cry. The tears blow upward as I continue to plummet to the underbelly of the fortress; something grabs a hold of my ankle and yanks me up. Someone holds me in their arms and their encouraging, firm voice makes my heart speed up a little faster, "I won't let you go no matter what." Don's tight embrace calms me down and stops my tears from flowing. Something about Don makes me feel fearless. When Seth was holding me I knew Don would save me just like when he helped me escape from T.A.N.K. I guess with him here, even if he won't die, I can face death without any doubts.
Am I dead? My gut's telling me that I'm not, but what is this place? I pat myself up and down, wondering how I'm not seriously injured from the fall. As my vision comes into focus, I spot Don lying next to me in this raven abyss. "Don!" I pick myself up and run towards him, getting on my knees and shaking him worriedly. "Don, Don, don't die! Please don't leave me," I fall and clutch his T-shirt, tears cascading on it. "Don't die!" Then I suddenly remember what he told me before, "…if I get hurt too badly, instead of dying I fall asleep for a while. If it's not that bad I might sleep for an hour or two but if it's really bad I can be asleep for a long time."A sick feeling swims in my stomach, making me sob and wail uncontrollably on top of him. "Please wake up, pleasepleaseplease!"
"I'm sorry Mia," a familiar voice says. I raise my head and turn around. I reach for my bo staff and protectively stand in front of Don. "You can't kill something that's already dead. Look at me Mia." After wiping my tears with my free hand I scrutinize Seth closely, noticing that he is radiating white light and looks transparent. "Another Seth?" I drop my staff as he moves closer to me. "Are you the Seth from that dream? No, your hair is darker." He looks at his see-through arms and legs and then lowers his head with melancholy.
"I'm the sane part of Seth's heart that he casted away, the Seth before-everything went wrong. There are no words that can undo the damage I've done to you...and him...I did my best to hold Seth back from hurting you. All I wanted was the power to keep you safe but Korbin manipulated me and turned my desire to protect you into a desire for power. I thought...that I would always be able to stop myself from hurting you but here I am, a piece of Seth's heart fading away in the trenches of this fortress. This place is a graveyard for rejected pieces of hearts," says Seth with a weak chuckle. "Korbin casted part of himself here too, as well as other people of Darkness but that's not the point. I just want," he's about to touch my face but stops himself out of guilt and lets his hand drop to his side. "I want you to be here with me forever but you wouldn't want that. You want Don to wake up right?" he asks pessimistically, his face waiting for me to say, "No, I want you and only you." To his disappointment, I nod while looking at Don sleeping tranquilly. "If I save him and bring you guys back to his world, then there won't be anything holding me back," choked Seth. "Mia, don't let me kill you."
I nod while wiping the mucus and tears from my face. He steps to the other side of Don, putting his hands through his chest. "Thank you," I tearfully whisper, crying less than before. Seth begins to shine brighter as he looks at me and smiles that sweet smile that I missed. "He gave himself up so you could live," Seth tells me as his eyes close. "He's a good guy, I spoke to him once and I could tell he was carrying some pain. I guess even though he's immortal, he's a little human too." Piece by piece as if there's a breeze blowing from beneath him, Seth starts disappearing. "Stop crying Mia," he leniently commands, "I want you to be happy again so stop being sad." The black void fills with luminous cyan and glistening white light swirling together, almost blinding me. I shield myself from the light and when it dies down, I lower my hands and realize we're on the path towards the house I've been staying at.
"Thank you Seth...Don!" I shake his limp body frantically. "Are you awake now, please answer me." When I don't hear anything but the birds' songs, I drop my head to his chest. Did Seth really bring him back to life or did he lie to me like he usually does? Don's soft groan clears my doubts and his chest is moving again. I raise my head while intently staring at Don's face. His eyes flutter open and he yawns while stretching his arms out. When his eyes meet mine, he sits up quickly, clutching my shoulders tenderly. "Are you okay, what's the matter?" I throw my arms around him and let myself cry on his shoulder. He must be surprised, I would be if he did the same. He eventually gets his other arm around me awkwardly while he says in realization, "I fell asleep, I'm sorry I put you through that."
"I'm so happy it was only a nap," I pull back, tears still streaming down my face. "I'm so happy." I laugh while sniveling and my grin takes him aback. "I'm just really happy."
J.G.P.
My little cuties are alive, yay! How about that for a cheesy love story?